Nordic Investment Bank NIB

Rating: Aaa/AAA

Some supranationals want to see their efforts to print green bonds rewarded with tighter pricing, hoping to set a precedent that will spread through the market. But some worry that setting the pricing bar higher for green bonds than vanilla as a matter of course could deter investors. Lewis McLellan reports.

The Nordic Investment Bank paid 'flat to 1bp' of new issue premium on Tuesday as it brought an environmental bond in in the seven year area — which bankers are calling the 'sweet spot' of the euro curve.

A flash of public sector SRI bond issuance last week heated up on Monday, as Nederlandse Waterschapsbank found a strong reception for an affordable housing bond and Nordic Investment Bank prepared an environmental offering in a tenor that bankers said was attracting strong demand.

The Nordic Investment Bank is looking for someone to head its sustainability and mandate evaluation team, a job the supranational is redefining by moving to its treasury department.

Investors have begun to push back against ever tighter levels in the public sector dollar market, with a deeply sub-Libor trade this week failing to find full subscription. But there was not much concern ahead of next week’s Easter holidays, with some strong funding already raised in the first quarter and the new Federal Reserve chair’s first Federal Open Market Committee meeting passing this week without any great surprises.

The Nordic Investment Bank became the second borrower this week to access the two year part of the curve, taking advantage of a widening in swap spreads.

The Nordic Investment Bank has announced that it will become the second borrower of the week to access the two year dollar market. The first, Kommunalbanken, scooped up $1.25bn on Tuesday.

This week's scorecard reveals how far progressed supranationals are in their 2018 funding plans as we hit the middle of February.

Public sector borrowers this week set new landmarks in what has already been an exemplary year in dollars, as KfW sold the largest 10 year dollar benchmark in 2.5 years and the Nordic Investment Bank priced the tightest deal versus swaps of 2018 so far. SSA bankers are confident that conditions will hold at both ends of the curve — allowing the possibility of further long end supply and even lower short end spreads.

Rating: Aaa/AAA

Demand for SRI bonds and favourable basis swaps are boosting the Swedish krona market for SSAs, despite concerns late last year that the Swedish central bank’s tightening monetary policy and the krona’s appreciation against the dollar could stifle issuance. The European Investment Bank, Nordic Investment Bank and African Development Bank all came at the long end of the krona curve this week.